BATON ROUGE - Stamping out any lingering uncertainty about where he might work next year, LSU football coach Les Miles signed a new deal Thursday that will keep him in charge of the Tigers until 2012 or beyond.

The arrangement - actually an amendment to Miles' current contract - was approved unanimously by the university's Board of Supervisors and minutes later Miles and Chancellor Sean O'Keefe inked in an adjoining office.

"I signed it, absolutely, of course," Miles said.

"I've got it right here," O'Keefe said, holding the rolled up document aloft in his fist.

Despite Miles' repeated statements that he would remain at LSU, broadcast and published reports had continued to fuel speculation he might somehow bolt to Michigan, his alma mater and where he was the university's first choice to replace retired coach Lloyd Carr.

Some news outlets, particularly in Michigan, had denounced Miles for a brass capitalistic nature and jumped on allegations LSU had thrown buckets of new cash to keep him in Baton Rouge. In fact, as Miles and O'Keefe had insisted, Miles made the decision with his heart as the amendment does not include any change in the coach's compensation.

That said, Miles is still going to make a lot more cash. That's because a clause in his current and still extant contract stipulates LSU will make him, "no less than the third highest paid coach in the conference," if the Tigers win the Southeastern Conference championship. Miles accomplished that task last Saturday when No. 2 LSU (11-2, 7-2 SEC) beat Tennessee in Atlanta.

Plus, when LSU was chosen to play No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) in the national championship game in New Orleans, that triggered an additional $175,000 bonus for Miles on top of salary.

"I appreciate this contract very much," Miles said, addressing the board. "I look forward to many years as LSU's coach."

Immediately after signing the deal Miles bolted for the airport on a recruiting trip. His attention now is devoted to beating the Buckeyes, he said.

"If we win the national championship game and then they fired me, I'd still have that forever," he said.